Problem: If the sales tax in your city is $7.2\%$, how much tax would you pay for an item that costs $\$114$ before tax? Round to the nearest cent.
In order to find the amount of sales tax you would pay, multiply the sales tax by the original price of the item. ${7.2\%} \times {\$114} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $7.2\%$ is equivalent to $7.2 \div 100$ $7.2 \div 100 = 0.072$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. Round to the nearest cent. $0.072$ $\times$ $$114$ = $$8.21$ You would pay $$8.21$ in sales tax.